Entrelacen (26 page)

I can feel my eyelids starting to get
heavy and my heart rate returning to
normal. I roll off her and pull her onto
me. She rests her head on my chest and
sighs when I tighten my hold on her. I pull
the cover over us and pass out as soon as
we settle in.

I sigh as I’m lying on top of Logan. He’s
holding me so tight that it makes me feel safe, but I
need to get up to check on Mathew. So content to be
in his arms, I can hear his breathing get slower as he
falls into a deeper sleep. Sex with this guy is like a
sport. I’ve never been this satisfied before. My heart
is racing too much to fall asleep. After 147 steady
heart beats, I act like I’m rolling over and get out of
the bed. He reaches for me, frowns, and then pulls the
blanket up. I giggle lightly and walk to his bag by my
closet door, so I can wear one of his t-shirts.

I tip toe out of the room and go check on
Mathew. He is sleeping soundlessly. I walk downstairs
to get a drink of water and make sure everything is
okay. I stop when I see a paper on the counter.

April, this will come in handy when the time is
right. Once you’ve read this, burn it so no one will
find it. I love you and Logan. Gran

Under the full moon I
daughter of Hectate
Call upon the Goddess of

I sacrifice myself
To thy might
By Fire I call thee to me
By Water wash away their

By the shedding of my
blood
As I ask,
Shall be done

I read over the paper and do what Gran told
me to do. I go to the backyard and use a lighter to
burn the paper. I throw it in the fire pit and watch it
burn. Once the fire goes out, I head back upstairs.
Logan is still sleeping as I crawl back into bed next to
him. I’m facing away from him when his hand wraps
around the front of me, pulling me to him.

“Everything is going to be okay. Now go to
sleep. We’re going to need all of our energy," he says
as he kisses my neck. With that, I’m finally able to
fall asleep.

I wake up feeling patterns being drawn on my
back, so I try to focus on what’s being drawn. Hearts,
Logan, Love, Mine, swirls. “I know you’re awake,"
he says as he places a kiss on my shoulder. I turn my
head to look over at him, and he’s smiling.

I give him a
chaste kiss. “Good morning love.”
I slide out of the bed to put some clothes on because
any minute, Mathew will be running in to jump into
my bed. “Babe, you may want to at least put your
pants on. Mathew has the tendency to jump in my bed
in the morning.” I laugh at his expression, but it gets
him moving. He puts on some yoga pants but leaves
his shirt off. Mathew busts his way through the door
and jumps on the bed.

“Wakey wakey sleepy heads!” He says
laughing.
I look over at Logan to see him getting ready
to spring on the bed. I decide to distract Mathew.
“Hey, you know I love you, right?”
“Of course Mom. You know I love you too,
right?” he says, completely serious and unaware that
Logan is a second from crashing on top of him.
“I do know that, so don’t hate me for this," I
say as Logan falls on top of him. I jump on top of
Logan yelling, “Dog pile!”
“Oomph,” Mathew squeaks, while Logan and
I laugh. I could get used to mornings like this. Then
the words from the note replay in my mind, and I
sigh.
“Okay boys. We have to get ready. Mathew go
get dressed. You too Logan. I’ll meet you both
downstairs," I say as I climb off of them and head for
the door. I can feel eyes on me, but I don’t turn back. I
can’t let them see what I’m hiding. Mentally checking
my walls to make sure Logan won’t accidentally pick
up on something from me, I head downstairs.
I’m in the kitchen, sitting on top of the counter
drinking some chocolate milk and trying to decide
where we should go for the altercation. I don’t want it
to be a popular place because innocent people might
get hurt, but I don’t want it to be too far out of the
way so we can escape if we need to. I’m so lost in
thought that I don’t even notice Logan coming in and
standing between my legs with his hands on each side
of me on the counter.
“Baby, nothing is going to happen to you or
Mathew. You know I’ll protect you.” He’s running his
finger over my ring.
I try to smile at him, but I know he can see
through it. He can see through me. I’m not used to
that so I look away. Mathew comes charging down the
stairs. “Umm Mom. We need to go soon.”
I look at him to see that he’s anxious and white
as a ghost. I sigh, "What did they tell you kiddo?”
“That we need to go to the mountains. They
said you know where and that you would take care of
everything,” he whispers the last part.
I jump off of the counter. “Look Mathew. I do
know what I have to do, and everything is going to be
okay," I pause, taking a deep breath. "But I want you
to do me a favor. Can you do that?”
“Sure Mom. I’ll do anything you ask.”
“Okay. If, for some reason, something happens
to me, you have to promise to leave with Logan." I
can hear Logan getting ready to object. "You also
have to make sure to get him out of there because he’s
going to want to grab me.” Mathew nods his head,
tears filling up his eyes. “If something happens to
Logan, you make sure you get me out of there, okay?”
“I promise Momma. I leave with Logan if
something happens to you, and I leave with you if
something happens to him.”
“I know this sucks kiddo. You shouldn’t have
to be doing this, but it’s all going to work out.”
“You promise, Mom?” He asks, looking so
hopeful. I can’t lie to him because, in all honesty, I
don’t know what’s going to happen.
“I promise that after this, you can just be a
normal kid with no worries other than doing your
homework.”
He smiles at me. I get up, and Logan is glaring
at me. He knows what I didn’t promise. He knows
that I’m up to something, and he hates it. I can sense
him trying to break through my shields to see what
I’m hiding, but he’s not able to. Frustrated, he sighs
and walks over to hug us.
We get loaded into the car and I drive to my
favorite spot in the mountains. As we get closer, my
body starts picking up on whatever is waiting for us.
Goose bumps are snaking their way down my skin,
and my hairs are standing at attention on the back of
my neck. I look over to see if Logan can feel it too,
and I see him scanning our surroundings. Yup, he
feels it too. I look back at Mathew to see his eyes
focused up ahead. I turn to see what he’s looking at,
and I have to fight the urge to turn the car around and
drive away.
There are two of us protecting one child
against an army. Maybe that’s a slight exaggeration,
but there are about 20 of them. I pull over and park
the car. I turn to look at Mathew and say, “No matter
what, you stay with Logan. Do you hear me?”
“But Mom,” he starts.
“No but Mom, Mathew. Logan’s sole purpose
is to protect you. When we get out of this car, you stay
between us, but if we get separated, you stay behind
Logan, okay?”
“Okay Mom," he says with tears spilling down
his cheeks.
I turn to look at Logan. “You make sure you
keep him next to you. Do you understand me?
Otherwise you’re going to be dealing with me.”
“April, I won’t take my eyes off him. Promise
me that you’re not going to do anything stupid," he
commands.
“I wouldn’t take the chance of doing anything
stupid Logan, not when Mathew is involved,” I snap
back.
I get out of the car before he calls me on the
fact that I didn’t actually promise him anything. I
open the door for Mathew and take one hand while
Logan takes his other. I mumble a spell underneath
my breath,

I cast a protective circle around us three
Aid me Hectate in defending light’s might
Send me the fire of the sun
The cooling waters of the sea
By the power of three times three
Send me the raging winds
The earths will to take back what’s rightfully
hers

By the power of three times three
This I ask, shall be done
This I’ll so mote it be.

Once
It’s spoken, the sky turns grey, the
ground quakes, and the non-existent wind circles
around us. I’ve never felt such power before, but I
know this is the only way. Before anyone speaks, they
charge us, all except for one guy. He is standing back
watching the chaos. I keep my eyes on him as Logan
develops a stance. I mirror him with Mathew between
us.

One guy gets close enough to me that my
stomach churns. These aren’t people. I honestly have
no word for what they’re, but they reek. It smells like
death. Their skin is ashy grey, and their eyes are
black. Their moves are jerky. My mind is racing with
different scenarios on how to kill him, when he
touches my skin. I look down to see that the spot
where he touched me is red like it’s on fire, and I grin.
It’s an evil grin, and his eyes narrow. I hold up my
hand to slam into his chest as he comes back at me,
and a burst of light shoots out. He collapses and turns
to ash. I look over at Logan to see him doing the same
thing.

Why didn’t we bring weapons? I shake my
head. It's too late to think about that now. We continue
fighting them for hours, and each time we take one
down, there’s another to take its place. The sun is
almost set, and the full moon is starting to make its
appearance. Their boss is still standing in his original
position, andI know it’s because he’s observing us to
find out our weak spot. So I keep changing tactics,
and Logan mirrors me. If I wasn’t in the fight, I would
be transfixed on the way we move. It’s like we’re
magnets pulling each other. Logan looks over his
shoulder, and his eyes go wide.

I turn so fast that I scare myself. I see him, the
same guy that was at the bookstore that day, the same
guy that killed Logan's mom, the same guy that was
100 feet away from me only a second ago. He is
coming toward me.

As my anger flares, I can feel my body heat
up. The wind picks up, the mountains around me
begin to tremble, and water starts to fall from the sky.
He looks around to see whereIt’s coming from. When
he doesn’t see anyone else b
ut me, Mathew, and
Logan, his face darkens into one of the most terrifying
scowls I have ever seen. The face I thought was
beautiful once is now morphed into something
hideous. Reality and fantasy are blurring together, but
I know the guy in front of me staring at my son is
definitely real.

Logan is finishing off a group of them, and
Mathew is surprisingly calm, holding a hand on each
of our backs. “Who are you?” I ask saucily.

“I’m whoever you want me to be love.” He
laughs.
I make gagging noises. “Excuse me. I just
threw up in my mouth a little bit. “
Logan and Mathew laugh, and he shuts up.
“Oh, April. You are in so far over your head
that you don’t even know it. Making snide remarks
won't help the fact that I’ll take that boy and kill the
two of you," he says, gesturing at Logan.
“Kill me? Take my son? Kill Logan? That
worked out well for you last time. Oh wait. It didn’t,”
I say.
“I’m Azazel. I command the armies of hell,
and that boy is the key to my rising of power," he
says.
“Well Azazel, I hate to be the bearer of bad
news, but your rise to power stops with me.”
“Oh child, you cannot kill me, but I would
love to see you try.” He laughs as his hand shoots out
and punches me in the face.
I can feel the pain for only a second. Then the
water rushes underneath my skin and carries it away.
Logan looks like he is about to attack, but I put a hand
up to stop him. More creatures are popping up around
us, so he nods and gets back to work. I look at Azazel,
and he’s clearly not happy with the fact that I’m not
cowering away from him. Logan finishes off the
dozen or so of the creatures that are left and reaches
for me. “We need to go April. I don’t know if I can do
much more of this. My body feels like it's shutting
down.”
I give him the worst look possible because I
know Azazel heard him, and he just showed him our
weakness. I turn to look at the leader of Hell's Army,
and he had moved to stand in front of Mathew.
“Come child. I’ll spare your mother and father
if you leave with me.”
I know I can’t answer for him. This is his test,
his
choice.
Mathew looks at me, then at Logan and says,
“No.”
“Stupid, just like your parents. Why would
you want them to die?”
“My mom and dad just killed your army. Why
would I go with you?” He asks, confused why Azazel
could think he’s winning.
I have to give him credit. He has my attitude,
but this is nowhere near over yet. I’m happy that he
chose not to go with him.
“Dear boy, you are mistaken. This isn’t the
army. This is just a taste of what’s to come.” He
laughs.
“Enough!” I yell. He narrows his eyes at me,
and I say, “If you are done playing games, get on with
it.”
“As you wish April,” he sneers. A sword
appears in his hand.
I drop into a defensive crouch. In my head, I
envision what is about to happen if I don't prevent it. I
see Mathew shoot his hands out to send a couple of
guys flying away, Logan get stabbed in his side by
Azazel, and Mathew getting carried away.
It’s time
April.
The vision and the voice fade away.
Azazel laughs at my crouch, and the scene
starts happening. I turn around just as Azazel
disappears from the space he had just occupied. I grab
Mathew to sandwich him between me and Logan just
as Azazel reappears in front of me. Logan sees what’s
about to happen and moves me behind him. I let out a
frustrated growl and say the spell Gran left me on the
counter: